Cervical osteochondrosis is one of the most common in the modern world. Despite the fact that modern medicine always goes ahead in search of new ways of treating many diseases and their prevention, osteochondrosis is a diagnosis that can be put to one degree or another by 8 out of 10 people living on the globe.
The development of the disease is facilitated by a sedentary lifestyle and insufficient attention to the first signs of the disease. How to treat cervical osteochondrosis and whether it can be done with the help of folk remedies, we will figure it out in this article.
Description of pathology
Cervical osteochondrosis is a disease that has a long chronic course, its main symptom is the destruction of the intervertebral discs. Connective tissue wears out and breaks down, losing its elasticity. The disease is accompanied by severe pain, deterioration of the physical and psychological state of the patient.
If the disease is left untreated, it leads to disability and disability. Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is a complex and long process. In the course of treatment, it is important to carry out a complex effect on the causes of the disease.
Traditional medicine offers a large number of proven remedies for the treatment of this disease.
Pros and cons of traditional medicine
The use of various folk methods for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis has both positive (pluses) and negative (minuses) sides. Cervical osteochondrosis is a pathology that is increasingly common in the modern world.
Pros:
- can be used by patients for whom treatment with official medications is contraindicated;
- they are financially available;
- natural ingredients are used;
- do not cause side effects;
- are highly effective when applied correctly and in a timely manner;
- the ability to quickly relieve pain at home;
- ease of use.
Minuses:
- improper use can lead to a worsening of the condition;
- in advanced cases of the disease does not give the desired effect, the patient may lose time;
- the use of some of these products can cause serious burns or poisoning;
- some folk remedies are incompatible with each other.
The options for using folk remedies are varied. For the treatment of diseases of the spine at home, the following are used:
- Herbal medicines: leaves, flowers, rhizomes of herbs and trees, oils obtained from various plants. Folk remedies can be used both internally and externally.
- Components of animal origin: waste products of bees, bile of animals, bee and snake venom, eggs.
- Chemicals that can be purchased at pharmacies: various tinctures on alcohol, iodine, analgin, camphor, turpentine, etc.
Folk remedies are divided into those that are used inside and those that are used outside.
Broths and fees
Of the existing folk remedies, decoctions are the most popular for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. Properly prepared decoctions relieve pain, reduce swelling and inflammation, and normalize metabolism. Various types of plants are used for the preparation of decoctions. Below are the most popular recipes.
Sunflower
For the preparation of the broth, sunflower rhizomes are used. The roots must be stored in the fall. After collection, rinse, dry, grind, store in a dry place. For a decoction, 150 grams of roots are poured with two liters of hot water, put on a gentle fire, boiled for half an hour, cooled. It is necessary to use the broth 3 times a day, it is advisable to wait 20-30 minutes after the end of the meal. The course of treatment is a month.
Needles
Fresh needles are collected directly from the trees, take it in an amount of 250 grams, pour 1 liter of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes. To use it twice a day, after waiting 30 minutes after a meal, it is advisable to observe an interval of eight hours between meals. Treatment with a decoction should be carried out within a month.
For a decoction of dandelions, the roots are harvested, dried, crushed. Roots 15 g are poured with 250 ml of hot water and placed in a steam bath for fifteen minutes. After settling the broth for half an hour, it must be filtered, then the original volume of 250 ml is restored with boiled water. Dandelion root for decoction
Eat before meals, 3 times a day for a third of a glass. It is important to remember that decoctions promote the elimination of salts from the body, but cannot affect damaged cartilage tissue. Therefore, it is important to combine this treatment with others.
Ointments
Ointments made from the components available at home are also widely used as one of the methods of alternative treatment for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. These remedies are quite effective and have almost no side effects.
Butter and egg
To prepare this ointment, you need to take:
- flour - 20 gr;
- egg - 1 pc;
- sunflower oil - 100 ml;
- vinegar - 20 ml.
Mix all ingredients, place in a dark place. After two days, the ointment can be used. The resulting ointment is rubbed into the sore area, wrapped on top with paper or polyethylene, a warm scarf or handkerchief is tied and sent to sleep.
Ginger ointment
The use of ginger for osteochondrosis allows you to relieve severe pain and inflammation within an hour after use.
To prepare ginger ointment, you need: Ginger ointment will help relieve severe pain
- fresh cow oil - 30 gr;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- ginger root (unpeeled) - 50 gr;
- essential oil - 2-3 drops.
Chop the garlic, grate the ginger. Soften butter, mix with essential oil, add to garlic and ginger. Mix everything well, apply to the inflamed area, insulate, leave overnight for a warming effect.
Mustard egg mixture
To obtain the mixture, you must take:
- egg white - 3 pcs. ;
- mustard powder - 50 gr;
- camphor alcohol - 50 ml;
- vodka - 60 ml.
Mix the components well with a mixer or in a shaker and remove in a dark place for 12 hours. The mixture is used in the form of a compress, which is applied to the affected area and left to dry completely. It is applied twice a day for 12 days.
Honey recipes
Folk remedies based on honey are widely known and are applicable for cervical osteochondrosis. Honey compresses are especially popular.
Honey compress recipe # 1:
- vodka - 150 ml;
- honey - 100 gr;
- aloe juice - 50 ml.
The components are mixed, applied to the fabric or several layers of gauze, applied to the affected area, a warm scarf is tied on top. It is applied twice a day for two weeks. Honey is widely used in the treatment of pathology.
Honey compress recipe # 2
Apply a thin layer of bee honey (it is better if it is in combs) on the sore spot, wrap it tightly on top with parchment paper or polyethylene. Keep for two hours, then rinse with warm enough water. You need to make such compresses within a week.
Honey compress recipe # 3
Mix fine salt and honey (take the ingredients in equal amounts), apply on a wide bandage folded several times, attach the bandage to the damaged area, use a scarf for insulation. The procedure should be carried out every evening before bedtime. Ten days are enough to get the effect.
Healing baths
For the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, using folk methods, therapeutic baths are also used. Warm water with a medicinal decoction acts on the skin, and through it on the muscles, warming them, increasing blood flow to them, relieving swelling and relaxing them. Herbal preparations are used, sold in pharmacies and self-collected combinations. For medicinal baths, herbal preparations are used.
It is necessary to pour boiling water into an enamel bowl, place grass (300-400 grams) there and let it brew. The temperature of the water in the bathroom must be kept as close to body temperature as possible. Bath time is 25-30 minutes. It is not recommended to stay for a long time in already cooled water. Patients with high blood pressure should take a bath with caution. After taking a bath, you need to rub yourself well with a towel and rub the sore spot with a warming ointment. A similar procedure must be performed every day in the evening for two weeks.
The following plants are recommended for taking baths:
- May birch leaves;
- needles of pine, cedar, fir;
- chamomile flowers;
- calamus root;
- motherwort.
9 folk remedies for osteochondrosis
The existing folk remedies are diverse and multifunctional. Below are nine more tested folk remedies for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
Kerosene compress
When pain in cervical osteochondrosis is very strong, a compress with kerosene is a quick-acting remedy for pain relief. You can use ordinary household kerosene for such compresses. The fabric is abundantly moistened with kerosene and applied to the desired place. Wrap the top with polyethylene and leave for 2-3 hours. It must be remembered that kerosene smells strong and unpleasant, so it is better to make the polyethylene layer denser. Kerosene compress will very quickly help relieve pain
Pine bud infusion
Pine buds for this tincture should be no more than 2 cm in length, they must be collected in March-April. The collected buds (1 glass) are cut and placed in a glass container, covered with granulated sugar (2 glasses), and left to infuse for two weeks. When the infusion is ready, it has a light brown color and a thick consistency.
Take the infusion inside 3 times a day, one tablespoon, without swallowing immediately, but keeping it in your mouth for a while. The duration of taking pine buds infusion is 3 weeks, but its effect can be felt already on the third day after the start of the intake.
Potato compress
Grate raw potatoes and mix with honey in a 1: 1 ratio. Apply the resulting mass in the form of a compress on the neck for osteochondrosis, put paper or gauze on top, then tie a scarf or shawl. Soak for two hours, rinse off the product and rub in vegetable oil: olive, fir, linseed.
Rubbing from mother and stepmother
Flowers and stems of mother-and-stepmother in the amount of 20 grams, pour medical alcohol in the amount of 320 ml. Remove the resulting product for a month in a dark, cool place. After a month, strain and apply for therapy in the form of rubbing painful areas.
In the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis with folk remedies, plants that have a warming and anti-inflammatory effect are widely used.
Horseradish and elderberry rub
Grate horseradish rhizomes, squeeze juice from the resulting mass. Mix in a volume of 1: 1 with vodka and pour the elderberry with this mixture. For 100 grams of berries, you need to take half a liter of the resulting mixture. Insist the solution for a week. Horseradish rubbing rubbing the diseased areas, avoiding the lymph nodes.
Radish compress
This is another excellent folk remedy in the form of a compress for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. The root crop is crushed and laid out between two layers of gauze, placed on the neck, covering the top with thick paper. This compress warms up the sore spot well, but care must be taken to avoid being burned by the plant sap.
Sour cream compress with comfrey
Comfrey medicinal or larkspur (its root part) is finely rubbed, sour cream is added in an amount of 50 grams, spread on a cloth and used as a compress or lotion on the neck. The exposure session is 40 minutes, the course of treatment is 9-10 days.
The trick of such a recipe is not only the use of a medicinal plant, but also sour cream, which should be of high quality. Ideally, this is a homemade product, as it is maximally enriched with calcium. But most people spend on various external remedies what is worse, cheaper, etc. As well as on medicines and folk remedies, it is not worth saving.
Heating with ozokerite
Melt ozokerite or mountain wax in an amount of 30 grams until warm, but not hot, apply to the neck, and stand for 1 hour. The duration of the course of treatment is 15 procedures. Ozokerite should be used with caution in the presence of diseases of the heart and vascular system.
When choosing traditional medicine for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, it is important to remember that the most effective results are achieved in the process of a sufficiently long-term use of a particular method. In addition, it is very important to follow a special diet rich in calcium. Avoid fatty, salty, spicy foods and alcohol. It is good to combine treatment with folk methods with physiotherapy exercises, massage, Pilates or yoga. It is also important to listen to your doctor's advice using the products that are right for you.